Author: Gary Wilson

Posted on

Landscape – Untitled #116

In November 2023 we were at the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois in what proved to be a rather crisp, raw, pre-winter day. As is our habit, if we don’t have a clearly defined destination, we will drive along the paved roads throughout the Arboretum until we feel “led” to pull over and just see where our footsteps take us.

It was a chilly, windy day which precluded any attempt at macrophotography for certain. As we walked down the path, a short distance from the car, braving the cold wind, we noticed the clouds in the sky over this section of the surroundings near Crab Apple Lake. The way they were, it seemed, “sculpted” and “brushed” in such a unique fashion, determined that we should put them in our Etsy Shop for those who are drawn to the sky and cloud patterns in particular.

Posted on

Abstract – Untitled #114

In September 2023 we were, once again, at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. We had parked the car in a parking lot near the woods and just strolled about the area patiently anticipating what might capture our attention.

At the edges of the parking area, just past where the asphalt ends, is a row of wooden posts set to keep cars from driving into the plants. The top of one of the posts is visible in the center of the picture. Projected on the top of the post is the silhouette of a nearby plant. We love black and white photography and put this rendition of the image in that format in our Etsy Shop. We felt a bit of abstract mystique portrayed in this picture and offer it as such.

Posted on

Flowers – Untitled #111

This is a picture of the central portion of a sunflower. There is a community garden near our home where a variety of flowers and vegetables are grown.

In July 2023 I took a stroll to the garden and surrounding area and took 80 pictures. In this image, my love of nuance and subtlety are shown; those parts of wonder that lie all around us but go unnoticed unless we are intentional of becoming aware of what is already here for us to enjoy.

Of the 80 pictures taken that day, one other image made the cut and is proudly displayed in our Etsy Shop: Flowers – Untitled #41.

Posted on

Landscape – Untitled #109

This is a picture of Meadow Lake within the confines of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.

As I have often said in these posts, the Arboretum is one of our favorite places to relax, read, enjoy the flowers, fields, and forests, and, to take pictures.

This scene is one perspective of this well-known lake. As I took this picture, immediately behind me is the Visitor’s Center. Near the main parking lot, visitors walk by this lake to get to the Center. Often you will see chairs set up by the lake for special events and exhibits are found here throughout the year as well.

Inside the Visitor’s Center you will find the Ginko Room where guests can eat and are treated to this view through an extensive stretch of windows.

This scene was photographed in May, 2023.

Posted on

Untitled – #107

We took this picture on a very hot, humid day in July of 2016 at Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County, Illinois. It is a black and white rendition of the form and texture of a rivulet of water in one of the many stream and riverbeds in the park.

It hadn’t been particularly rainy during this part of the summer and the heat had aided in evaporation, so that what were once ample water supplies coursing through the streams and rivers, due to the late winter melt-off or the abundant spring rains, were now absent.

We had considered putting this picture in our Etsy Shop for many months and we finally relented. I love, particularly, the pattern of the “waves,” for lack of a better term, and the rhythmic function, certainly with a mathematical, waveform feel to it.

Posted on

Untitled – #106

When I’m shooting pictures with my camera, my focus is usually straight ahead at some object or landscape, or down while capturing the image of a flower or plant but, comparatively seldom am I looking up. I have had to train myself over the years to see what’s going on above me.

I took this picture in May of 2023 at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois near Lake Marmo. It is simply a grouping of trees along the path that gave me not only pause but a literal and spiritual sense of something bigger, greater than me; a looking up, if you will, to consider those lovely things that seem to be out of reach and yet, ever so attainable.

Posted on

Untitled – #48

This picture was taken in November 2008, in Disney World, in Florida. Besides its serenity and beauty, this memory is of special significance to me.

I was still learning much about my, then, new camera. There were many challenges, as many photographers face, but “slowing water down” was especially problematic until this picture. Rather than “freezing” the water, I learned how to manage the camera settings to allow for a feeling of motion in the waterfall.

It was a turning point in honing my skills and a lesson that helped me, in some way, in my understanding of what I could get my camera to do to bring the best, most faithful experience of the moment.

Posted on

Untitled – #47

Rodgers-Lakewood Park in Valparaiso, Indiana made for an excellent, day-long, get away for me on that colorful, peaceful autumn day in November 2011.

The lake, that is within the confines of the park, offered many beautiful colors, textures, and shapes reflected in its serene waters.

In this picture, I was able to find an angle that allowed me to get a mirror reflection of that fallen tree in the lake, framed by the fall colors.

Posted on

Untitled – #94

If you have read many of our stories you’ll know by now the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, is one of our favorite places for pictures, rest, relaxation, beauty, inspiration, enjoying nature and each other, reading, and so on.

Every year the Arboretum has a weeks-long event called Illumination. In very general terms it is a light/laser light show, in the trees and sky, accompanied by music. Frankly, it is beyond the description of words and my general description doesn’t begin to do justice to the genius and hard work that must go into its preparation.

This picture, taken on the last day of the Illumination event of 2022-2023, January 7, 2023, to be exact, shows the moon, which had a significant presence in the midst of all of the other lights, framed by the limbs of a tree tinged in blue from one the lasers, that were in abundance that beautiful, mystical, colorful night that was filled with discovery, awe, and visuals beyond imagination!

Posted on

Untitled – #89

This is an October 2022 view of the advent of autumn colors as seen atop Frost Hill, one of the panoramic views to be found with the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.

This picture, as well as Trees – Untitled #79, can be found in our Etsy Shop.